* Not sure what Old Blues should find more troubling: The indescribably bad defense or the far-worse-than-expected offense.

After all, the Bears hired Dykes to put points on the board and in the past two games they have scored a total of 10 in the first half — before the official onset of garbage time.

Next up: vs. Arizona.

The matchup: A few weeks ago I pegged as the game the Bears would win to end their FBS losing streak.

Now: I’m not so sure.

The Wildcats appear to be a mid-level team, and that’s two levels above Cal’s existence.

Have to think the Bears will score a few touchdowns and might even ring up 25 or 30 points.

But if UW’s Bishop Sankey can run for 241 yards, Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey can do the same — or better.

*** STANFORD

Result: Won at Oregon State 20-12

Grade: B

Comment: Grade is a combination of an A for the defense and C- for the offense (rounded up for the road environment).

The Cardinal didn’t accomplish much in the passing game but rushed for 185 yards and three touchdowns.

* Sure seems like the defense found its mojo/purpose/identity after returning from Salt Lake City.

The same unit that got carved up by Utah turned around and shut down UCLA and Oregon State, holding those high-powered offenses to two (combined) touchdowns and playing the way so many expected when the season began.

Helping matters: That UCLA and Oregon State don’t have first-rate running games.

* Frank assessment from David Shaw:

We missed too many things in the passing game — our quarterback, receiver and coach — we can do so much better. Ty Montgomery needs more opportunities with the ball in his hands.

This might be a good place to add that Oregon has the best secondary this side of Florida.

Post navigation

I have to add in defense of the passing game that Stanford didn’t catch any breaks from the referees. There were two no-calls where the receiver was just mauled. Still, to paraphrase Coach Shaw; We NEED to do so much better.

Matt Hamilton

It’s all about David Fales, Wilner is right. That’s why it is so frustrating when we are down by the goal line, knowing that our defense can’t stop anyone, when we settle for a field goal and take the ball out of the hands of one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the nation and settle for three when there’s a good chance we could have seven.

Wyoming fired their defensive coordinator. We should do the same. On that Wyoming record-setting TD pass on Saturday, we had a defender in a perfect position to make a tackle—and he whiffed completely. This happens over and over to us. We don’t break down and form tackle. It’s discouraging to watch us play and then go home and turn on the TV and watch game after game where other college defenders

make one-on-one tackles.

On the other hand, our offense, buoyed by the freshmen at running back, wide receiver and tight end (we need to keep throwing to Freeman as we did last game), have given Fales the weapons he needs to light up the scoreboard. Gosh, they are fun to watch! And what can you say about Chandler Jones? He’s freakin’ amazing. Even when Fales is off target, Chandler will figure a way to make a play.

We will obviously need to outscore everyone else on our schedule because our defense is so bad, yet that’s a distinct possibility. And everyone else on our schedule is beatable.

Hope Lawson’s injury isn’t too bad (hamstring?) but then Tucker is a great back-up who could start with no drop-off. Glad the Jurich experiment is over. That just takes the ball out of Fales’ hands for one play, and we can’t afford that.

All in all, I think I’m making the drive from the SoCalt to Vegas this weekend to watch us take on the Rebels. I don’t have a lot of faith with this coaching staff, but these players make me proud to be a Spartan.

Go Spartans!

Jason Hernandez

Wyoming had just been embarrassed at home by Colorado State so they came out guns blazing and focused. This was a game they needed to win to get to 6 wins because they’re most likely NOT going to get wins Vs. Fresno St., at Boise St. or at Utah St. Hawaii is the only game left that looks like a w.

San Jose State weathered the storm and came roaring back especially in the 3rd and 4th qtr when both the offense and defense started to click.

Helmet Stickers:

David Fales: Way to battle through adversity and come back.

The Oline: did a pretty good job protecting Fales and getting a push especially at the end there.

Chandler Jones: was simply on fire for 3 TD’s.

Tyler Winston: again impresses and scores another td. (3 more years baby).

Shane Smith: played lights out and scored his first TD.

Jarrod Lawson: What can you say about the freshman rb? Tough, tough, tough young man.

Tim Crawley: Picked up the first down when desperately needed and scored a TD.

Billy Freeman: I like that he got another chance to redeem himself after an earlier probable td drop. Big play needed there to keep the drive alive and he delivered.

Forest Hightower: Nice defensive play batting down the ball there to make wyo go 3 and out.

Isaiah Irving: Nice sack and TFL’s.

Ryan Jones: It all starts with the O-line.

Travis Raciti: Way to stuff their running game in the second half.

Anthony Larceval: Who else can come back from an illness like that and stuff wyo running game in the second half?

casey_mullins

not to be a pessimist, but is there a way that Stanford can go to the Rose Bowl with two losses?

stephen rollins

agree completely; yet Stanford got the benefit of one call down the stretch as well. If Hogan cannot throw, why not sub a qb who can on obvious passing downs? Now That’s Usin’ the Noodle.

el Palo

Ben Gardner out for the season. CRAP. Beating Oregon just got a little tougher.

visionary_23

It got ALOT tougher. One main reason why we lost so horribly at home 2 years ago was because we didn’t have shayne skov. Those guys are huge.

Oh well.

Cardinal Rule

This is dreadful news. Gardner is such a competitor. Luke Kaumatule is going to have to put on his Big Boy pants and step up. I hope he’s ready.

rotfogel

Kevin Hogan = a poor man’s Tim Tebow

Cardinal Rule

Ah rotfogel, you have decided to show your face again so soon after your incredibly wrong predictions regarding the outcome of the Stanford vs. OSU game have seriously devalued all of your credibility. I imagine we will hear from you again regarding the Oregon game. Recall that even a stopped clock shows the correct time twice a day, so if I were you, I wouldn’t even bother to offer an opinion.

el Palo

His 34 yd completion to Ty Montgomery and his 23 yd run beat OSU. Get over it, dude.

Bootlegger

Absolutely and there are people who are predicting that on the SI and ESPN websites.
If Stanford plays Oregon close but loses (and then wins out its remaining games), then Stanford is likely to remain ranked in the top 14 of the BCS. If Oregon beats Stanford and everyone else then it is in the NC game (almost certainly). So the Rose Bowl will need to fill a spot and can pretty much choose who they want. The could choose the Pac-12 South champ — who will have three losses, may have lost to Stanford and may not even be ranked high enough to be BCS eligible — or they could chose Stanford (or maybe another BCS eligible team, I am not sure). I think in that scenario, the Rose Bowl is likely to chose Stanford to play against Ohio State (assuming they win out) — a nice traditional Rose Bowl.

Bootlegger

rotfogel = a poor man’s troll.

rotfogel

Geez, I give your guy some props and look how I’m repaid. Wasn’t Tim Tebow the greatest college QB ever? I’m just saying Hogan’s got a lot of Tebow in him, just not as good as the holy one.

Candid One

Shayne Skov wasn’t difference in that game. The Ducks were better mudders than the Cardinal, and the secondary had its toreador capes out. Stanford’s tackling stunk. Stanford hadn’t had a secondary that could handle Oregon until 2012, ever. Oh, Stanford even had Andrew Luck in 2011; he eventually steered the offense to 30 points but Stanford was never really in the game, too busy slipping on the slop.

Candid One

And then those same refs changed their standards in OSU’s last drive, when Alex Carter was flagged for PI on a play where the receiver pushed off. Different camera angles showed entirely different possibilities. As it was, it should’ve been no call. The receiver was between Alex and the ball and had no way to stop the reception–which was dropped. After all of that leniency, they got flag-happy on that last drive? OSU should never have gotten to the red zone on that drive. Fortunately, it didn’t cost Stanford.

visionary_23

He would have been a big difference — the main reason why we were able to render Oregon impotent last year was because our front 4 were able to neutralize the line of scrimmage and our line backers were able to minimize any quick throws and blow up the QB read option gimmicky nonsense upon which Oregon depends.

You remove any of those potential all-americans in that area and you’re going to lose a huge part of your ability to stop Oregon. In other words, it’s not just the secondary because under pressure, Oregon QBs drop off fairly readily. As an aside, a team like Alabama, which can effectively lower its recruiting standards to that of Oregon’s, has a Ben Gardner/Shayne Skov like option on the bench as well as playing — hence Oregon’s read option fast play is less likely to dominate them even with injuries.

Also, just for your recollection, Stanford defeated Oregon in 2009, lost in 2010/2011, and won in 2012. The idea that stanford has NEVER been able to keep up with Oregon when they’ve been 2-2 in the last 4 years is somewhat ridiculous.

SF

“Wyoming fired their defensive coordinator. We should do the same”

A lot of validity to that statement from Mount Hamilton.

There were times on Saturday night when you knew Wyoming would score simply because the Spartan defense could not hold them. Very bleeping frustrating.

Now that the SJSU offense has coalesced. It is time for Coach Carragher to take a serious look at the defensive coordinator position.

Canoe Man

Gotta fake it ’till ya make it and win anyway you can. Spartans are now primed to make a run if they can tackle and get off to stronger starts. Carragher needs to light a fire under the defense or we need to figure out how to clone Kieth Smith

CoachM

Huge win for the Spartans. What could have been a punch in the stomach loss turned into an epic MWC victory.
At the end of the day we are 1 step closer to getting to the season finale against the ‘Dogs for the West Title.
Still a lot of work to do, but the necessary win was earned.
I’m not overly concerned with UNLV, but a team that could knock us off in the desert. Something they did in ’92 that knocked the Spartans by scoring two late TDs (check Keenan McKardell) and essentially taking away the league championship and a no-brainer entry into the Las Vegas bowl.
SJSU needs this win for a number of reasons, but STILL It’s not clear to me, how good this team is. We have yet to play a team at our level. All 3 of our losses were to teams better than us. All of the victories are against teams we should have beaten.
If we survive UNLV, then SDSU will be the first real test.
At Nevada, will be a game against a team that has owned us in recent memory, but is better than the record. Even though UNLV beat the pack, I am more concerned with Nevada.
But one step at a time. Take care of business, play ball, and stack up another Mwc victory, and stay undefeated against the west.
It looks like sjsu may have to run the table to have a shot at the West title, if FSu continues to run their table.

Go Spartans!!!

mk92

I think even with a blowout loss, the rose bowl is likely assuming no other losses. Stanford would almost certainly finish in bcs top 14 thanks to strong computer numbers, and there won’t be any other pac 12 teams in top 14 to choose from (ucla will have at least 3 losses under this scenario).

DUsjsu

What concerns me is the lack of focus at all on the defense, why was it changed in the beginning of the year? what was the advantage? we have some talent on that side of the ball, Keith Smith is having an unbelievable year- but there is no consistent play from the rest of the defense, Why?

The offense was decimated-especially the receiving corps but the freshman class is stepping up, we seem to have found our Otten replacement, and we we are finally seeing some depth at WR, time to do something on defense- starting with the DC

Bootlegger

Do you know if the Rose Bowl is obligated to pick a PAC-12 team if available? I think it is very likely to do so because I think they would like the pairing of tOSU vs. a PAC-12 team, but I don’t know if they are obligated.
You may be right that even with a blowout loss to Oregon that pushed Stanford into the high teens in the polls that Stanford might be saved by the computers — but hopefully we won’t face that scenario.
I think that Stanford will play Oregon tough and that the game will be decided in the fourth quarter, but Oregon deserves to be favored.

Ken Cornwell

I think the coaches need to go back and look at what worked last year. Carragher changed to a 3-4 from a 4-3 defense. Maybe our personnel are better suited having that additional down lineman for a pass rush and clog up the running lanes. What type of blitz package are they running? WE don’t have the big bodies upfront like a Stanford or BCS-type team. The Spartans have always relied on schemes and quickness. 40+ points given up to both Utah State and Wyoming already and Fresno still yet to play? The MWC is an offensive league and the Spartans had better figure out how to defend that game -in and game-out. 50+ points on our side is not going to happen often. Carragher now knows what type of league this is so the coaches should know what type of player they need to recruit. Go Spartans! Beat UNLV!
Ken Cornwell

TheCardinalRules

Absolutely as long as that second loss is to Oregon and not USC or Kal and Oregon runs the table and goes to the NCG.

Stanford would still be the clear #2 team in the Pac12. The Rose Bowl is well-known for preferring to have a B1G-P12 matchup, and it gets first choice to replace the P12 champion if Oregon goes to the NCG.

Stanford would likely still be eligible for the BCS in being one of the Top 14 teams in the rankings.

TheCardinalRules

Terrible news, but the team’s philosophy has always been “next man up” – well it’s time for Kevin Anderson, Henry Anderson, Blake Leuders, and Luke Kaumatule to STEP UP. Huge shoes to fill but they simply have to get it done.

Just remember that this is the program that pulled off the Greatest. Upset. Ever. In front of a raucous home crowd, I remain confident that Stanford can rise to the challenge and take down the Ducks.

I think Ben can still be a massive inspiration to his team, and I hope every player writes a 49 on their cleats – or some other visible part of their jersey.

Darius

against stanford? maybe the army game this year? but i agree… winning TOP is a prerequisite to staying in the game against UO… failing in that means the team will fall behind early and probably stay behind.

Darius

not a good thing at all and i’m praying for his full and complete recovery in time for the combines… but if there’s one thing i’ve come to appreciate about this defense is their consummate resourcefulness… starting from derek mason all the way down the line to alex carter. no doubt oregon knows this as well and will not come to the game thinking gardner’s loss guarantees them anything, but, in my opinion, this loss might light and even bigger fire under the defense’s bellies.

SF

All of the Spartan road games are potential land mines this year. And yes Nevada game concerns me as well.

casey_mullins

Luke? cmon. they decided he couldn’t play TE and made up a story to make it palatable.
I doubt he’ll play.
Hays, Callihan or Nwafor have to step up

Cardinal Rule

Luke has already played DE. They use him on passing downs. Anderson may be ready to go otherwise it’s Shittu, Kaumatule and/or Hayes. Callihan and Nwafor would have to shift from DT…. not as easy as you may think.

mk92

Not obligated, but there’s a strong likelihood. I suppose if someone like Oklahoma or Notre Dame were an option, they might go there but I still think Stanford is more likely (also, regarding a drop in the polls, we might drop into the high teens with a blowout loss, but we would certainly move up by winning the last 3).

SF

Today’s Spartan win, is nothing less than a STATEMENT.

Sure that is easy to say, but lets face it SJSU needed this road win to prove, a) they know how to win on the road consistently and b) they are still in the hunt for the MWC west title.

UNLV has always been one of those teams that SJSU has had trouble with. But today they laid that miserable past behind them.